Take steps to revive economy: Stalin to PM, FM

DMK working president M K Stalin has expressed concern over the country’s economic growth and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to take steps to revive it.

Referring to former Union finance minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s criticism in this regard, Stalin called for ‘corrective’ measures from the central government and accused it of doing nothing on the economic front despite majority in Parliament.

In a statement, despite a strong majority, the government had not done anything on the economic front, even as the growth rate had dipped compared to the UPA era, exports were on the decline and the overall economy was suffering.

“The GST has reduced the growth rate from eight per cent during the UPA times to 5.7 per cent. When a party man (Yashwant Sinha) is saying such things, which is akin to self-assessment of the three-year-old government, BJP leaders are criticising him for penning the article,” Stalin said.

“We have a government which caused an unbearable misery for 90 per cent of the country’s population through demonetisation, when many people standing in long queues died,” he said.

State was also suffering due to the slowdown, the leader of opposition said, citing the textile and leather industries in Tirupur and Dindigul respectively.